The present invention relates to a dumping apparatus for a grass catcher for rearwardly inclining the grass catcher containing grass clippings to discharge the grass clippings.
A mower for cutting lawns, other grass and the like comprises a grass cutting unit mounted at a lower front position or a lower center position of a vehicle body, a grass catcher at an upper rear position, and duct means for delivering grass clippings from the cutting unit to the grass catcher. The grass catcher is supported by the vehicle body through a dumping apparatus which, when the grass catcher is full of grass clippings, causes the grass catcher to incline rearwardly to discharge the grass clippings onto a truck deck or the ground.
For transferring grass clippings to a position at a higher level than the vehicle body, for example, to a truck deck, the grass catcher in a grass receiving posture on the vehicle body must be lifted upwardly and rearwardly and then inclined. The dumping apparatus for lifting and inclining the grass catcher is well known and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,007.
The apparatus disclosed in the above patent comprises a pair of extendible and retractable means for extension upwardly and rearwardly from right and left positions of a vehicle body. The extendible and retractable means each includes a movable member, and a lower rear position of a grass catcher is pivoted on an upper end of the movable member. A flexing link is provided between the grass catcher and a guide member of each of the extendible and retractable means. This flexing link is extendible and foldable by a hydraulic cylinder. When the hydraulic cylinder is extended, the flexing link is extended which imparts a drive to the extendible and retractable means to lift the grass catcher upwardly and rearwardly. The grass catcher is inclined as a result of an extension of the flexing link after the movable member is fully extended.
In the prior art noted above, the flexing link is flexed by causing one of two interconnected link elements to be pivoted by the hydraulic cylinder, and the pivotal movement of the link element is converted into a linear sliding movement of the movable member. Therefore, strain tneds to occur between the movable member and the guide member, which inpeds smooth vertical movement of the grass catcher. This arrangement requires powerful hydraulic cylinders and high cost compared with the case of directly driving the grass catcher with hydraulic cylinders. Moreover, when the grass catcher is inclined at an elevated position, the movable member of the extendible and retractable means may be subjected to a downwardly pressing force due to the shift in the fore and aft direction of the center of gravity of the grass catcher. Since the movable member is not positionally limited in the downward direction, it may then be difficult to maintain the grass catcher in the elevated position. Futhermore, since the grass catcher is supported only at the lower rear positions thereof by the movable members during the ascent, there is the problem that the grass catcher may not be maintained in the horizontal posture stably.
The object of the present invention is to provide a dumping apparatus capable of vertically moving the grass catcher smoothly and inclining the grass catcher rearwardly through a large angle, and of supporting the grass catcher stably and solidly at times of vertical movement and inclination.